In motor vehicles, air vents allow air from the interior of the vehicle to escape. For instance, when the vehicle windows are closed, and the vehicle's air conditioning is operating, a positive pressure is produced in the interior of the vehicle, and the vent allows for the pressure to escape into the environment. Since the vents allow for air to escape, devices and apparatuses for preventing unwanted foreign objects from entering into the ventilation ducts while still maintaining air flow are well known and documented. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,468,149 teaches a vent having louvers to prevent water from outside of the vehicle from entering into the vehicle compartment. However, in certain instances water and other foreign object can still pass through the louver, especially when the surrounding body structure creates turbulent air flow, as is the case in a vehicle quarter ventilation duct.
The vehicle quarter ventilation duct is positioned in the lower rear portion of certain vehicles behind a tire. The force from the rotation of the tire along with the movement of the vehicle relative to the road creates a turbulent air pattern as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1. In certain vehicle operating conditions, such as when the windows are closed and the air conditioning is on, the turbulent air pattern can cause foreign debris to pass through the duct into the interior vehicle compartment. Air flow is made even more turbulent when a muffler is disposed adjacent the rear tire as the air flow created by the rotation of the tire is forced to travel around the muffler as shown by the arrows in FIG. 1. The air flow may carry water, debris, and other foreign objects through the louver into the ventilation duct unless the ventilation duct is completely sealed off. However, sealing off the ventilation duct during such driving conditions may not be desirable as certain passengers like having air circulate within the vehicle cabin. For instance, on hot days, vehicle passengers may desire to have the air conditioning on, thus the vent must be open to allow air to exit. Thus it is desirable to have a device which can prevent foreign objects from entering into the vents without completely blocking the vent so as to maintain air flow.